Journeys to the Heart of Catholicism
Author: Ted Schmidt
What happens when a deeply
committed Catholic man, loyal to Church and to Jesus Christ,
and alive to the present, addresses fearlessly and deeply
those issues that trouble him and should trouble us as well?
Ted Schmidt is that man.
Journeys to the Heart of Catholicism
is a collection of his essays which dare to question. They
prod and disturb, sometimes ruffle feathers and confront,
but always bring insight.
~ Rosemary Crumlin, OAM, former head
of Australia's National Pastoral Institute, and co-author
of Aboriginal Art and Spirituality
This is a work at once analytical,
balanced, conscience-charged and honest. Schmidt writes
with passion but not polemic – a rare achievement
for writers opposed to present wars in Iraq and injustices
here and elsewhere. While Journeys to
the Heart of Catholicism is directed, as the title
suggests, to Catholics, there is much within it that should
appeal to a larger readership. He raises matters of common
concern, such as the just exercise of authority and the
rightful roles of women in church and society.
~ Dr. Margaret Woodward, writer and
educator, Melbourne, Australia
Ted Schmidt, to use a term
of German political theologian Johannes Metz, has a "dangerous
memory." He remembers well the Catholic Church's social
teachings on justice, human rights, and the common good,
and recalls a time when such ideas had greater institutional
favour. He offers a forceful, and at times, unvarnished
critical reflection which strives to not only “comfort
the afflicted, but afflict the comfortable."
~ Stephen B. Scharper, former editor
at Orbis Books and editorial director of Novalis Publishing,
Associate Professor, the Centre for Environment, University
of Toronto
Ted Schmidt has written a provocative
and stimulating book that offers, at the same time, criticism
of the contemporary institutional Catholic Church and evidence
of enormous hope.
~ The Very Rev. The Hon. Lois M. Wilson,
CC, former Moderator, United Church of Canada
